According to Psychology Today and related research, more than 29 million catholics have been abused by priests and members of catholic orders. The sheer scale of the horrors perpetrated by the catholic clergy worldwide and the dawning reality upon catholics that the church had actively sought to deny victims redress and protection, has brought universal disgrace to it.

The sexual crimes committed against children and adolescents by Catholic priest have figured prominently in the media over the past decade, and rocked the Catholic Church the world over. The “sins of the fathers” have been more than matched by the sins of the church hierarchy which showed more concern for the protection of the abusive priests than for the prevention of future violations or for the suffering caused to the victims.